The Chatham Vines project brought new life to a disused church, St John’s, Chatham. Once a place of community and worship, it had been empty for over 6 years, isolated, and formally closed for public worship.
In 2004, John Newling, the installation artist, brought change, transformation and new life into this space – both metaphorically and literally.
Thirty-two pinot-noir grape vines were planted along the central aisle of the church, and were grown using hydroponics technology. At night the church was lit inside and two cameras continually streamed images of the project to a dedicated website.
Before the vines were removed, the grapes were harvested and made into wine, some of which was used at this year’s Easter Sunday Eucharist, here in the Cathedral.
If you would like to know more about this fascinating project, John Newling’s book on the project is available at the Cathedral Gift Shop at the back of the Cathedral. This is a beautifully produced book, with an introduction by Peter Lock, Archdeacon of Rochester (seen here blessing the vines), and it contains many stunning colour photographs of the project.
Chatham Vines: A Project for St John’s Church, Chatham
You may also like to visit the Chatham Vines’ website, where you can see more stunning images of the vines, as well as listen to some of the sonic music composed by children from St Michael’s Roman Catholic Primary School, Chatham (seen here in the Church), under the direction of artist musician, Peter Cook.
http://www.chathamvines.com/home.html
Chatham Vines scooped the Rouse Kent Public Art Award for 2006 and the internationally acclaimed art critic, Richard Cork of The Times said:
“In full bloom, it must have been a magical experience, even for visitors who knew nothing about contemporary art.
It turned out to be a powerful, poetic symbol of regeneration for a disused church waiting to be transformed in the regeneration of Chatham town centre.”
http://www.rousekentpublicartaward.co.uk/Chatham Vines was commissioned by Medway Renaissance, Medway Council, and was supported by the Diocese of Rochester.
We are very grateful to Medway Renaissance for lending us the photographs for this exhibition, as well as to the Diocesan Office and Geoff Marsh, the Assistant Diocesan Secretary, for putting together the booklet on the project.